Holy Night: My Husband is Definitely a Paladin - Chapter 105
“Princess Cecilia? What about her?”
“That, well… cough! cough!”
Reyna, out of breath from running so fast, could barely speak and was coughing heavily.
Irene quickly fetched her some water, patting her back as she handed it to her.
After a moment, Reyna finally caught her breath, drank the water in one go, and then blurted out, gasping for air.
“That woman declared that she’s going to participate in the raid!”
Irene looked at Reyna with a puzzled expression.
“And why is that a problem?”
She had assumed the princess would participate anyway. After all, Cecilia had entered the distortion dungeon in her previous life too.
“She said she’s going to organize the raid with people from her own circle!”
That wasn’t surprising either. The last time, she had also formed her own raid party to participate. In fact, Irene would have been more shocked if only the princess and her knights had entered.
“Calm down. This was all expected.”
“But…”
Reyna, with a trembling voice, cried out.
“This time, she declared that she’s going to divide the rewards equally among everyone in the raid!”
“Oh, goodness.”
Irene put a hand to her forehead. She had expected the princess to try something, but she hadn’t thought she’d act so quickly and use the exact same strategy.
‘I thought she’d at least try to save face.’
From the moment Irene joined the princess’s circle, it had been clear—it was a strict hierarchy, with everything determined by the rank of the purifiers.
For the princess, the disparity in distribution based on rank was as natural as a commoner bowing to a monarch.
But now, Cecilia had discarded all of that.
It was as if a monarch, feeling insecure about their position, had descended from the high throne and extended a hand to those beneath them.
Irene couldn’t help but let out a bitter smile.
“It seems we’ve become a bigger threat than I anticipated.”
“Aren’t you worried, Irene? I saw Cynthia before I came here, and she’s already in a panic. Apparently, more than half of the people who were supposed to join our raid have gone back to the princess’s circle.”
More than half.
‘Of course.’
The biggest grievance the people who had defected to Irene’s side had was the unfair distribution of rewards. Now that issue was resolved.
‘They no longer have a reason to stay with us.’
The princess’s circle had strong purifiers and knights, as well as an established system for battle, unlike Irene’s circle, which still had to learn how to coordinate and work together. As a result, the survival rate in the princess’s circle was higher, and the chances of securing more rewards were greater.
‘The princess’s circle will give their all for this raid.’
They’ll enter through a different entrance, moving furiously to secure as many rewards as possible.
‘This is the perfect opportunity to show how overwhelming they are.’
Once they compare the rewards after leaving the dungeon, the gap between the two circles will be painfully clear.
The princess’s raid circle was practically the only large-scale, well-established raid team in the fortress, whereas Irene’s was only about to embark on their second raid as a small circle.
The princess seemed determined to nip this growing competition in the bud.
After organizing her thoughts, Irene turned to Reyna.
“Reyna, please prepare a list of those who left our circle and those who stayed.”
“That won’t be difficult, but why do you want a list of those who left?”
In response, Irene gave a cold smile.
They were the ones who had come to her, bad-mouthing the princess as if they had finally found someone who understood them.
But as soon as the conditions changed, they turned back without a second thought.
‘The princess might treat them as usual for now, but once she finds out they sided with us, she’ll start discriminating against them.’
It would have been nice if they at least showed some pride and hesitated for a few days before running back.
With a tone of genuine pity, Irene added,
“We need to show everyone that trust has its own ranking system as well.”
