Chapter 198-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
Ye Zheng quickly left that laboratory and hurried back to the Papal Palace.
To save those women who had mutated because of Dragon Bone, the demon dragon's power had to disappear. Once the demon dragon's power completely vanished, perhaps the Demonic Domain would no longer descend upon this nation, and this land could finally welcome a prosperous spring.
At this moment, Ye Zheng desperately wished she had the ability to travel through time and see the truth of those days with her own eyes. But that was just wishful thinking—she could only search for clues through other means.
The sky darkened. The Papal Palace, dominated by white and gold, still gleamed brilliantly. It had been renovated by successive Popes, containing everything from churches and banquet halls to galleries and libraries.
It had received countless visitors seeking audiences with the Pope. Many of its magnificent halls were open to outsiders, displaying the Pope's magnanimity and prestige. But deep within the Papal Palace lay many places that only the current Pope could enter.
Ye Zheng changed into a loose, comfortable white robe and walked through the painted corridors. She had thoroughly inspected and renovated the Papal Palace inside and out, including replacing a batch of the serving staff, ensuring no remnants of other factions remained.
After the Ye Family was seized and all servants dismissed, several maids had voluntarily severed their worldly ties to become nuns, hoping to continue serving at her side. Ye Zheng had accepted them, and now they too were part of the Papal Palace.
Her mother had been placed at the Holy Journey Knights Order base in the lower district. The Pope had no reason to bring family members into the Papal Palace. Unlike the marginalized Saintess, the Pope, as the divine representative in the mortal world, was strictly required in private matters to draw clear boundaries with family ties and become everyone's "Holy Mother," fully ascending to the divine pedestal.
"Your Holiness, good evening!"
A young nun who had just finished cleaning greeted her warmly. She had once been a maid at the Ye Family, the kind who would share interesting stories while brushing Ye Zheng's hair. Ignoring her attire and title, Ye Zheng almost felt as if she were back at the Ye Family home.
Ye Zheng smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries, just as she had done at the Ye Family.
But unlike the Ye Family, their daily tasks now included not just cleaning but also studying finance and resource management—assignments Ye Zheng had given them. Running the vast Papal Palace was no simple matter.
Once the conversation turned to studying, the other's eyebrows immediately drooped. Without any words urging Her Holiness to eat on time or rest early, she left with a hint of embarrassment.
Ye Zheng shook her head with amusement and continued inside. She wasn't the type of strict teacher or leader. As long as they had the self-awareness to study, that was enough.
She remembered that little maid had once secretly shared with her the type of man she liked, yet after the Ye Family was dissolved, she had chosen to become a nun and continue following her.
Perhaps she was young and had been influenced by the older maids around her, but Ye Zheng would not let her regret her choice.
Arriving before a tightly closed door, Ye Zheng gripped the key before her and opened it.
She looked up. The dim light made the books inside appear even more aged. The scent of wood and paper pulp mixed together like herbs pressed into soil, giving the entire room an antique fragrance.
This was the private library of successive Popes, also housing the Sei Curia's top-secret archives. Legend had it that many rare and unique books were collected here.
Previously, her status had been too low to access the Sei Curia's classified materials. To uncover the Sei Curia's secrets, she had been forced to search for information in the Royal Family's library. Now, to explore the secrets of the Royal Family and the demon dragon, she had finally opened this secret study belonging to the Pope.
What Ye Zheng was looking for was History of the Empire, published every fifty years, which detailed the Empire's events throughout history, including every Emperor, major Royal Family members, Popes, archbishops, and other important figures, as well as those who had made outstanding contributions—all recorded in detail.
—She wanted to find the true identity of the demon dragon from five hundred years ago.
History of the Empire had been published in twelve editions. Ye Zheng was looking for the third edition, published during Aston XIV's reign.
Although the current twelfth edition of History of the Empire also covered the history of Aston XIV's era, perhaps because that period was too distant and complex, the twelfth edition seemed to have intentionally or unintentionally deleted many details. Even the Empress of that time had only a name recorded, with nothing else.
The room contained twenty-one rows of bookshelves. Each Pope had left behind one row in this room, carefully treating and preserving every book—a tradition started by the first Pope.
Marcy had been a teacher who loved reading, so she had established this place specifically to collect books she considered valuable from her era. She hoped this hobby would be passed down to successive Popes. In her view, people who loved reading couldn't be too bad or too foolish.
Although subsequent Popes had erased her name, this tradition had been preserved. Whether they truly loved reading or not, the rumor that the Pope had such a scholarly, book-loving library was certainly good for their reputation.
"You don't need to search for the third edition of History of the Empire. I already read it back then. The book only records what I knew during my reign."
Marcy awakened again from within her consciousness. Ye Zheng had already found the third edition of History of the Empire and was carefully turning its fragile pages. She nodded at Marcy's words but didn't put the book down until she had finished reading it, then reluctantly returned it to its place.
Despite having Marcy, the first Pope, to assist her, Ye Zheng still trusted her own searching and judgment.
The demon dragon must have been a woman connected to the Royal Family—most likely not a commoner, someone with a certain level of fame, but not too famous or powerful, as that would have made experimentation and concealing the demon dragon's true identity inconvenient.
Suddenly, Marcy spoke in her mind: "The Royal Family women recorded in this History of the Empire you're holding—I knew them all well. To you they're history, but to me, some were friends, some were enemies. I even personally presided over some of their funerals."
Marcy's tone carried sighs and nostalgia, but she didn't say more.
"The timing doesn't match with the demon dragon's birth."
The demon dragon was born before the Demonic Domain descended. Although this History of the Empire also covered that period, the Royal Family women recorded were mostly those who had distinguished themselves during the demon dragon crisis, or were included as supplementary records because of their highly-positioned relatives.
The women of that era had been brilliant, but the demon dragon was certainly not any of them. She was a monster villain in the epic with no known origin.
"Then let's push the timeline further back."
Ye Zheng returned the third edition of History of the Empire to the shelf and began searching for the earlier second edition.
By her calculations, the second edition of History of the Empire covered history up to five years before the Demonic Domain descended.
The demon dragon and the Demonic Domain's descent had destroyed countless cultural treasures of the Empire. The second edition, published before the Demonic Domain descended, was extremely rare. Even Marcy hadn't been able to collect it back then. Ye Zheng could only hope that some Pope might have happened to find one among the people.
The room had no windows. Under the dim light, Ye Zheng's dark eyes were intensely focused as she searched every row of shelves, forgetting time and fatigue. Red veins crept into her eyes unnoticed.
Finally, on the fifteenth bookshelf, she suddenly spotted a severely damaged book with a tattered cover, only half the character "Empire" remaining on its front.
Her heart suddenly beat faster. Instinct made her decisively pull out this unremarkable book.
Opening its pages, Ye Zheng finally confirmed—this was the lost second edition of History of the Empire!
She skipped the earlier history and began reading from Aston XIV's ascension to the throne—still seven years before the demon dragon's birth and the Demonic Domain's descent.
"Vincent Aston, ascended to the throne at thirteen... married the daughter of Duke Henry, Margaret, at fourteen?"
Ye Zheng slowly raised her eyes from the page and stared at the gray-white wall.
"Marcy, have you ever heard of Empress Margaret?"
"No."
Marcy thought for a moment before giving her answer.
"When Aston married at fourteen, I was twelve, living in a remote small town... Now that you mention it, I do have some vague memory of the young Emperor's marriage, but back then no one cared much about the Royal Family. Which factory had better pay was more important."
In later history books, Aston XIV's Empress was not named Margaret.
From Marcy's memories, Ye Zheng saw the Empress who had been well-known at the time—born into a great noble family yet approachable and gracious, beloved by the people of that era. When she passed away, the entire nation mourned, and her funeral was personally presided over by Pope Marcy.
But she was not the Margaret recorded in the second edition of History of the Empire—the Margaret who had married Aston XIV at fifteen.
"It seems Margaret was... a former Empress?"
Ye Zheng murmured, unconsciously thinking of another former Empress of an Aston.
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